Restaurants hit by Omicron-related cancellations have been dealt a double blow — as diners using fake credit card details dodge paying no-show fees.

In a bid to stem lost business amid the pandemic, restaurants have been charging cancellation fees to make sure customers show up.

But sly diners have been giving false card numbers so they don’t have to cough up when they cancel their tables.

As Omicron devastates the hospitality sector, restaurant owners say it’s adding insult to injury.

At Damian Wawrzyniak’s award-winning House of Feasts restaurant in Peterborough, there were 300 cancellations following Boris Johnson’s televised speech about the virus last week. 

Writing for Metro.co.uk, he said: ‘We are fortunate in that we tend to get less no-shows than others, as we take credit card details, meaning that is a charge for people who cancel within less than 24 hours. 

‘However, we only take £5 per person, so it doesn’t really come close to making up for the loss of income.

‘And, upsettingly, we’ve experienced a rise in people giving us false card numbers, so when they don’t show up, we can’t even take the £5 cancellation fee.’

He added: ‘If things continue like this, there is no two ways about it: we will fold.’

He’s not the only chef to hit out at the practice. 

2018 Masterchef winner Kenny Tutt told Metro.co.uk restaurants losing out in this way was ‘disgusting’.

He said: ‘I take a really dim view of it. Every plate of food that comes out is work and time. It really is a poor show.’

His restaurant, Pitch in Worthing, Sussex, has escaped the practice so far, but he said there’s been a ‘big spike’ in reports.

‘We’re not an industry that’s strong enough to take advantage of,’ he said. ‘They’ve got to pick on someone else.’

Mr Tutt said it’s ‘a shame’ restaurants are having to charge people before they come in, saying it ‘takes the love’ out of the dining experience.

But with so many customers cancelling, restaurant owners say they’ve been faced with little choice.

Last night, 40 guests at Mr Tutt’s restaurant cancelled at the last minute. He added: ‘We staff up, we buy the food… it’s a huge blow.

‘We only get this little window of time [around Christmas] – it’s really just a safety net to get you through the darker months.’

A spokesperson for the trade body UKHospitality said: ‘It is obviously very wrong for anyone to do this at any time but even more so now when operators are really struggling.’

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